The Glosters in the Korean War by Robert Dixon

The Glosters in the Korean War by Robert Dixon

On 25 June 1950, the simmering Cold War suddenly turned hot when North Korea, backed by the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th parallel and invaded the South. The United Nations responded rapidly, urging member states to aid South Korea, and among the nations that committed troops was the United Kingdom.

One of the British units drawn into what became a bitter three-year conflict was the 1st Battalion, The Gloucestershire Regiment. The Glosters in the Korean War follows the battalion from the moment they were warned for deployment in Colchester in 1950, through their training and arrival in Korea, to the return of their last prisoners of war in late 1953.

In February 1951, the Glosters were thrust into heavy fighting as part of the 29th British Independent Infantry Brigade, leading the assault to recapture Hill 327 from Chinese forces. Their successful attack formed part of a wider UN effort to regain lost ground. Yet the same hill would become the site of their most famous and desperate stand during the massive Chinese Spring Offensive only weeks later, in April 1951.

On 22 April, three divisions of the Chinese 63rd Army – over 27,000 troops – launched a major assault across the Imjin River. Facing this overwhelming force, the Glosters, numbering just over 700 men, held a five-mile defensive front. For three days they endured continuous attacks, heavy artillery fire, and brutal close-quarters fighting. When the order finally came to withdraw, the battalion was virtually cut off and close to encirclement. Their resistance, however, bought critical time for UN forces to reorganise and helped stabilise the front north of Seoul.

The cost of victory at the Imjin was devastating. Of the 620 Glosters who entered the battle, only a small number escaped. Many were killed or wounded, and more than 500 were taken prisoner. For their extraordinary courage, the battalion – soon celebrated as ‘The Glorious Glosters’ – received the U.S. Presidential Unit Citation, an honour rarely granted to non-American units. General James Van Fleet later called their stand ‘the most outstanding example of unit bravery in modern war’.

ROB DIXON grew up in Gloucestershire, was educated at Cheltenham College and joined the Army aged 17. After two years at Sandhurst he was commissioned into The Gloucestershire Regiment joining them in Saighton Camp Chester a few months before a two year tour in Berlin at the height of the Cold War. All his regimental service was spent with the Glosters interspersed with tours away as an instructor at Sandhurst and Camberley. Regimental service seemed to consist of commuting between Northern Ireland and Germany. His Army life culminated in taking over command of 1 Glosters for the last six months of their Berlin tour, and then training them and leading them through a two year tour in Ireland. For reasons best known to the MoD, the Glosters had not served in Ireland for the previous nine years so there was plenty to be learned by all ranks. After command there is of course no more rolling in the mud with your soldiers so it was time for Dixon to leave. He had a varied second career in industry eventually settling down to run his own headhunting business. He has been involved with the Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum for many years as a trustee, including being the chairman for five years. He handled all the ancestry enquiries concerning the Korean War for several years including the Covid period from which he learned a lot: hence this book.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781036186753
ISBN 10	103618675X
Title	The Glosters in the Korean War
Author	Robert Dixon
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Frontline Books
Year published	2026-04-02
Number of pages	224
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.